Piano Keys And How To Make Sense Of Them
To the uninitiated, the piano keyboard looks like a sea of black and white. So many keys!
The way most piano teachers handle this problem is to first show students where middle C is - and I agree this should be the first thing newbies learn. But after they learn this visual marker, it’s time to really make the piano keyboard easy to see. How? By showing students how to form chords.
Sure, you could spend your time learning every single note on the piano. And you’d probably still be confused as to how to make music. But if you learn a chord-based approach first, you’ll be able to see piano keys as chords instead of individual notes. And when this happens
...the most magnificent music we can ever dream of playing. A melody that will fill our senses and put us in another world, where there is no pain and no suffering; only life that is good and pure and beautiful. ...
What I have my students do is master something called the open position chord first. Using this chord gives you a unique perspective to keyboard harmony. Both hands are called into play as you play something called a seventh chord. Seventh chords are used by contemporary pianists to create a “modern” sound.
In my free lesson “Reflections in Water,” we use open position chords in the Key of C Major to create a calm, gentle ambience.
Four chords are used in total: C Major 7, A minor 7, F Major 7, and G 7. If you’re unfamiliar with these chords don’t worry! You can learn them in a matter of minutes and start making music just as fast.
...melody and experience the joy of improvisation! Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and ...
You see, all you really need to know to make music and understand the keyboard is to know what Key you’re playing in and the chords from that Key.
The Key of C is located on the white keys. It’s the perfect place to start your understanding of keyboard harmony. Once you can play the C Major scale and form a few open position chords on the piano, you’ll see the keyboard in a whole new light!
Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play
...33: Passing Tones. Tones that "pass through" the current chord. Pro Secret 34: Question-Answer Techniques. Repeating a previous musical phrase but in a new way. Pro Secret 35: Far-Out Harmonies. Extended chords, altered chords. Pro Secret 36: Syncopation. Playing between ...